


And You That I Defend I Do Not Love

by litladyloveshp



Series: The Missing and Extended Moments [2]
Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: Guess who's back with a brand new fic, jughead - Freeform, this chick
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-10
Updated: 2018-05-10
Packaged: 2019-05-04 18:10:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,770
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14598765
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/litladyloveshp/pseuds/litladyloveshp
Summary: Jughead sits alone after Betty leaves at the end of 1x13





	And You That I Defend I Do Not Love

Jughead collapsed onto the couch, the weight of the day still pressing on him. As he tried to relax, he felt the cushions flatten beneath his weight, making sitting comfortably an impossible feat.

He could remember the day his father bought the couch. Jughead was at least 10 years old then, but that hadn't stopped him and a then five year old Jellybean from bouncing up and down it. It had felt like a real treat for the family. His mother's eyes had lit up as they settled down upon it to watch something on the tv. Even then the springs creaked from the slightest movement. Now, the couch almost mocked those who tried to seek comfort it, hence why Jughead hadn't considered throwing Betty on the couch.

Betty.

Was it just minutes ago that they were in the kitchen, the rush of proclaiming their love for one another fueling their already hormonal angst? As Jughead threw his head against the back of the couch, he couldn't believe it was true. He had Betty. In his arms, on his kitchen counter. Prepared to make love to her, be with her in a way he had never been with anyone. Naked, vulnerable, completely surrendering to the woman he loved.

But of course the luck of the Jones family prevailed. A simple knock at the door changed his destiny.

Jughead could still see the look in Betty's eyes as he donned the Serpent jacket, the insignia matching that of his father's. She looked scared, not just of the Serpents outside. Scared of him. And the mere thought of that broke him.

As the Serpents has scattered off back to their trailers, Jughead had tried to talk to Betty, but she brushed him off. A quick “gotta go Juggie” and she was gone.

She had left before he could explain. But how could he explain? He wasn't sure what he would be explaining. It wasn't as though he planned a Serpent intiation on his front porch seconds before having sex with his girlfriend.

_I can't lose her._ Jughead determined.  _We've been through too much to let this tear us apart._

_And I love her. I'm in love with her. I've never loved anyone else in my entire life outside of my family and Archie. And I won't let that go!_

He pushed himself off the couch and prepared to run out the door. He practically collided with Betty as he did so.

“Betty?” Jughead half questioned, half exclaimed.

Betty still looked shaken. Whether it was from Jughead nearly plowing her down or from what had happened before she left, Jughead didn't know. 

“I couldn't leave like that Juggie.” she said, her eyes looking watery.

Jughead could have ripped his own heart out. She looked so upset. Almost betrayed.

_By me? By the jacket?_  Jughead thought glancing over at the jacket as it lay against the edge of the couch. 

“Why, Jug?” Betty asked, taking her jacket off and setting it down. “Why did you put on the jacket?”

Betty gestured to Jughead.

Jughead was confused until he looked down, completely forgetting he was still wearing the Serpent jacket.

Jughead felt his face grow hot.

_Strange. I thought I had taken it off._

Jughead tugged on the sleeves vulnerably.

“They expected me. And they are a bunch of dangerous bikers.” Jughead told her, but as the words came out of his mouth, he knew they were lies.

The moment Tall Boy handed him the jacket, something changed. His world suddenly felt darker, but not in a way that felt wrong. As he felt the silk lining slide across his skin, he felt as though he were putting on armor, a shell, a piece of himself that he hadn’t realized had been missing. The feeling of shrugging the jacket on his shoulders, as though this was always who he was meant to be. The weight of the jacket not feeling like the burden he had always imagined it to be, rather it felt as though it were giving him strength he had long sense forgotten he had. He felt right, complete, as though he were fully embracing who he truly is.

_But that can't be true._ Jughead thought. _I'm no Serpent. I would never destroy property or terrorize parts of town. I'm a conscientious objector, not a rowdy participant. Not the kind of guy who would rather spend my time at a bar than at Pop's. Not the kind of guy who would trade milkshakes for whiskey. Laptops for motorcycles. Family for friends._

Jughead sighed, realizing what he thought being a Serpent meant. 

_I will never be him._ Jughead thought. _I am trying to forgive him, but I can't let myself become my father. His life is not mine. This is not what I want to be._

“Jughead, this is who you are. Like it or not, you are a Serpent.” Betty told him, tugging on the stringing of her jacket.

“I’m not.” Jughead denied, but he felt his heart sink as he did. “This” he said, pulling on the collar of the jacket “This means nothing to me.”

Jughead unzipped the jacket in a haste.

“This is not the life I want.” Jughead pulled on the sides, intending to take off the jacket and throw it across the room.

But the jacket wouldn't move. It felt as though every last particle of the fabric were glued to him. It was like the jacket was a part of him.

“But it is the life you have.” Betty explained, as the lights of the trailer dramatically shut off.

Jughead head flipped up, his eyes trying to find Betty’s in the new found darkness.

“Betty wait!” Jughead shouted, seeking out her slender frame or even just the slight tough of her fingers. “This is not who I am, Betty.”

“This is who you’ve always been.” a voice that was not Betty's replied.

Jughead's stomach dropped, immediately recognizing his best friend's voice in the void.

“I've always known. I've tried to pretend I didn't see it. But there is a part of you that craved this world. A part of you that wanted to become this version of you.” Archie continued, his voice barely concealing the hatred he felt for him.

“A part of you that is the son of the Serpent King.”

“Fuck you, Archie.” Jughead screamed. Pushing past his best friend and his girlfriend to stumble into the kitchen.

_There must be some scissors in here or something that can get this jacket off of me._

Jughead hastily opened drawers until he found some scissors. A sharp pair, it's blades shining in the lightless room.

“You can't cut that jacket.” the perky voice of Veronica Lodge interrupted.

“Yeah man, it's vintage.” Kevin’s voice added. “It would be a crime against fashion.”

Jughead spun around, trying to see where Veronica and Kevin were standing, not remembering when he invited them into his house. 

“Not the first crime for dear Forsythe.” Cheryl said, practically sighing in her self righteousness. 

Jughead spun back around to see Cheryl, filing her nails while sitting on his kitchen counter. “This ophidian set fire to an elementary school, defaced public property with the drive in, spent weeks illegally camping out at the school.”

Jughead felt himself swallow hard. Cheryl had a point as she stared lovingly at her own hand.

“It wasn't too much of leap from that to covering up my brother's murder.” her voice turning to ice, her hand becoming a fist. Anger instantly filled her eyes and Jughead hated to admit that the thought of Cheryl's anger directed at him was frightening. 

Jughead shook his head, seeing past his fear to hear the words that she said.

“You mean my father covered up your brother's murder.” Jughead corrected, still desperately pulling on the jacket, every pull feeling as though he were trying to rip off his own skin.

“Do I?” Cheryl said, sounding genuinely bemused.

Jughead looked at her confused. What could Cheryl possibly mean?

And then Jughead turned around and he saw it. There was a mirror right behind him but the face he saw in it wasn't his own. It wasn't the face of a 16 year old boy, still at the beginning of his life. He saw the face of a middle aged man who drove his wife and kids away. Who let the love of a gang take over his life. Let his desire to belong overtake every other aspect of his life. Jughead didn't see his face; he saw his father's.

And it was at that moment the lights in his dad’s trailer clicked on and Jughead saw that Betty and the rest of his friends were gone. Rather than friends, the trailer was filled with snakes.

No, not snakes. Serpents.

Jughead felt as though the air was sucked out of the room, staring as these Serpents covered every inch of the trailer, consuming his sherpa jacket, his laptop, his books, his beanie.

Then the Bulldogs started creeping in from all corners and a war Jughead hadn't seen coming was breaking out in front of him. Serpents attacking Bulldogs, Bulldogs attacking Serpents. Screams seemed to echo in Jughead’s head as the trailer quickly became covered in blood. None of it his, but that didn’t matter. He felt more powerless in this moment than he had ever felt. He couldn't stop the violence, the killing, the carnage in his own home. Not unless he became a Serpent or a Bulldog. But he would have to choose.

The thought of this choice gave him more anxiety than the actual carnage. Serpent or Bulldog. Deciding here and now, once and for all who he was. The mirror said he was FP, but he didn’t want to be. He wanted to be his own person, go his own way. But this world wouldn't allow him that choice.

Jughead braced himself to make a choice, deciding between a life he never wanted and a life he fought so hard against. But before he could decide, as the bodies of Bull Dog and Serpent alike stacked up, Jughead heard a gunshot in the distance. The sound rattled him, shooting a chill throughout Jughead's entire body, awaking him from his nightmare.

Jughead sat up in bed, pulling his phone off the nightstand.

6:42.

It was all just a dream.

_No it wasn’t._ Jughead thought to himself. _Dreams end in the harsh light of day. But this one isn't over. This darkness, this void, this terrible manifestation is just the beginning of the descension of Riverdale into the abyss._

_***_

To Be Continued...

**Author's Note:**

> Hello Bughead fam! Long time, no see.
> 
> I know in the last chapter of MAEM I said I would be back in March. Well life really hit me in the face in February and just kept on hitting. But I am back now and I am planning on starting my official continuation of the Missing and Extended Moments Season 2 once Season 2 has concluded. I know there have been plenty of wonderful fanfics in the last few months but I am ready to start telling my story again.
> 
> I'm not gonna lie, this season is a rough one for us, but I have quite a few ideas revolving around Bughead and some of my other favorites such as Cheryl and Reggie and Toni and Fred and of course Kevin. Hope you guys enjoyed this pallette cleanser of a ficlet. 
> 
> Title comes from the song A Bad Dream by Keane, my personal favorite song in the world.


End file.
